Sample Monthly Household Budget

Below is a sample monthly budget. A budget may be used to help you manage your money. It is an estimate of your income and expenses over a period of time. By creating and using a monthly budget, you can get a better idea of where you spend your money, to whom you owe money, and how much. It will help you focus on saving more, so you may reach your financial goals.

Sample Budget
This budget example has two categories, income and expenses. Income includes money earned, including wages. Expenses includes items you spend your money on, including rent and food.

The sample also has three columns, the first column, Monthly Budget Amount, is the budget estimate for the month. The next column, Actual Amount, is the actual income and expenses for the month. The final column, Difference, is the difference between the estimate and the actual budget (column 1 minus column 2).

MONTHLY BUDGET

Category

Monthly Budget Amount

Actual Amount

Difference

INCOME:

Wages/Income

$872

$810

$62

Interest Income

$232

$196

$36

INCOME SUBTOTAL

$1,104

$1,006

$98

EXPENSES:

Taxes

$386

$397

($11)

Rent/Mortgage

$298

$239

$59

Utilities

$99

$95

$4

Groceries/Food

$121

$100

$21

Clothing

$66

$60

$6

Shopping

$55

$46

$9

Entertainment

$44

$44

$0

Miscellaneous/Other

$35

$31

$4

EXPENSES SUBTOTAL

$1,104

$1,012

$92

NET INCOME (Income – Expenses)

$0

($6)

Note that in this budget, the actual income and expenses were both below the budget estimate (Monthly Budget Amount). Also, the person spent slightly more ($6) than they earned for the month. They may need to cut their expenses next month, unless they receive higher income. We would recommend that they add an additional row called ‘savings’ where they can budget for saving money every month.

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Many young people graduate without a basic understanding of money and money management, business, the economy, and investing. We hope to help teachers, parents, individuals, and institutions teach these skills, while reinforcing basic math, reading, vocabulary, and other important skills.